Shoe unloading devices



Oct. 20, 1959 E. s. KANT 2,993,921

SHOE UNLOADING DEVICES Filed Sept. 18, 1957 e Sheefs-Sheet 1 V 0 w j 0O o 0 Q Q Q 5v 0 O a x ray ]/1 Inventor Edwin S Kant I 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 18, 1957 Inventor Edwin S Kant B h 's A Oct. 20, 1959 E. s. KANT 2,908,921

SHOE UNLOADING DEVICES Filed Sept. 18, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 H Inventor Edwin a Kant- By his Azto Oct. 20, 1959 -r 2,908,921

' SHOE UNLOADING DEVICES Filed Sept. 18, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inventor Edwin S Kant Oct. 20, 1959 E. s. KANT SHOE UNLOADINGDEVICES 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 18, 1957 'l uh".

Inventor Edwin S Kant By /'L' Oct. 20, 1959 E. s. KANT 2,

' SHOE UNLOADING DEVICES Filed Sept. 18, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 lnuenzor Edwinf Karzz 2,908,921 Patented Oct. 20, 1959 SHOE UNLOADING DEVICES Edwin S. Kant, Melrose, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N.J., a corpora tion of New Jersey Application September 18, 1957, Serial No. 684,709 7 6 Claims. (Cl. 12-1 supports of that particular type but is generally applicable to machines of various kinds used in the manufacture of shoes.

In the operation of some shoe machines, such for example, as the leveling machine shown in the above-mentioned application, it is desirable that the operator be relieved of the necessity of removing a shoe after it has been operated upon whereby he is free to present another shoe to the machine immediately upon termination of its operation and an automatic removal of the preceding shoe.

The invention is particularly useful for unloading shoes from shoe supports of the type illustrated in the abovementioned application. As therein illustrated, the sup port is provided with a last pin arranged to engage the heel end of a last in its spindle hole. The pin must be relatively close fitting in the spindle hole of the last since during the operation of the leveling machine the pin is tipped toewardly of the last to force the toe end of the shoe on the last against the toe support and thus to fix the last and shoe on the support. At the end of the operation of the leveling machine the pin is tipped heelwardly of the last to release the force acting to fix the shoe on the support. Even when in its released position, the last pin restrains the last against any substantial lengthwise or widthwise bodily movement. Thus, to remove the shoe from the support, the shoe must first be moved axially of the last pin until the pin is clear of the spindle hole in the last before the shoe can be moved in any other direction away from the support.

There are other types of shoe supports which do not utilize a last pin but which nevertheless restrain a shoe against any substantial lengthwise or widthwise bodily movement. It should be understood that the invention is also particularly useful with such'supports which are well within the scope of the present invention.

Other attempts at automatic unloading of shoes from supports of the first-mentioned type have generally utilized an arcuate motion such as that illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 1,843,231, granted February 2, 1932, on an application filed in the name of Bernhardt Jorgensen. With such a motion, however, the last pin must be extremely short and loose fitting in the spindle hole of the last or the pin must be arcuately cut away. With such a treatment of the problem, however, the last pin and spindle hole of the last can no longer be used for accurate positioning or securing of the shoe on the shoe support.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide simple apparatus for removing shoes from a shoe support first by means of a linear motion which releases the shoes from any type of restraining means and secondly by means of any other transverse motion adapted to clear the support for placement of another shoe to be operated upon. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the shoe is first moved heightwise and is thereafter swung about an axis generally normal to the direction of the initial motion. To this end a member engageable with the top of the heel end of the last is mounted on a slide adapted for both linear and pivoting movements. A plurality of guide means engageable with the slide are provided to guide the slide for such movements. One of the guide means acts to limit the linear movement of the slide and thereafter forms a fulcrum for the swinging movement thereof. The other guide means are effective to. guide the slide only during its linear movement and thereafter are ineffective to prevent the swinging movement of the slide about the first named guiding means. So that the device may be automatically operated, power operated means are provided to move the slide in both the linear and swinging movements. The power operated means is arranged to act rapidly so that the shoe, by the movements imparted to it by the shoe engaging means, is

thrown clear of the shoe support and the shoe engaging.

means is quickly returned to its initial position. -In this manner, a shoe after being operated upon is thrown from i the shoe support so an operator without delay can place another shoe on the support for subsequent operation thereon.

The above and other'features of the invention includ ing various novel details of construction and combination of parts will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a twin leveling machine to which the invention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the left shoe support of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1; V

i Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a shoe unloading device with the casing removed;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 1V- IV of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line VV of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the right shoe unloading.

device at the end of its stroke; and

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic View of the fluid pressure system for operating the shoe unloading unit.

The leveling machine and shoe support to which the in vention is herein shown as applied is fully illustrated and described in the above-mentioned application for Letters Patent and accordingly only such parts of the machine as required for an understanding of the invention will be mentioned herein. i

The machine, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is a twin levelin g machine which operates simultaneously on each of a.

pair of shoes. The machine is, therefore, provided with two identical shoe supports 10 indicated generally in Fig.

1. The illustrated embodiment of the invention there rest 20, an intermediate support 22, a toe rest 24 and a toe gage 26. The heel support is provided with a last pin 28 arranged to be received in a spindle hole 30 with which all lastsof the type to be utilized are provided.

The last pin 28 is carried by a tiltable member 32,(Fig.- 5) which is fulcrumed on a pin 34 carried in. the upper,

end of a heel post 36. Power operated means, not shown, is arranged through a rod 38 to rock the member 32 toewardly and heelwardly of a last on the pin 28 to lock or release the last on the support.- In the operation of the shoe support an operator places the spindle hole 30 of a last on the pin 28 and moves the heel rest 20 rearwardly into the machine until the toe of the shoe engages and causes slight movement of the toe gage 26. The movement of the gage determines the position of the toe end of the shoe relative to the operating instrumentalities of the machine and also causes the abovementioned power operated means to rock the member 32 and thus also the last pin 28 toward the toe rest 24. The tilting movement of the pin 28 forces the toe end of the last and shoe thereon firmly against the toe rest 24 thus fixing the last and shoe on the support. Since the last pin 28 and the spindle hole 30 are relied upon both to position the shoe and to fix it on the shoe support the pin and hole must be fairly close fitting with only enough clearance therebetween to facilitate placement of the last on the pin.

It should be obvious with this sort of arrangement that the pin 28 resists any substantial lengthwise or widthwise bodily movement of the shoe relative to the shoe support as long as a portion of the pin 28 is in the spindle hole 30. Thus, to remove the shoe from the support the shoe must first be moved heightwise with a linear movement axially of the pin 28 until the last is completely removed from the pin. Thereafter, the shoe may be moved in any other direction suitable for clearing the support for placement of another shoe thereon.

The shoe unloading unit 12 includes a frame member 50 having secured to its rearward face a pair of brackets 52 (Figs. 4 and The brackets at their rearward ends are hook shaped and are adapted to be mounted on extensions of the fulcrum pins 34 carried by the heel post 36. The weight of the unit 12 is sufiicient to maintain the hook shaped ends of the brackets 52 in place on the pins 34. For engaging the shoes on both shoe supports for unloading the shoes from last pins 28, the unit is provided with two plates 56, 57 which underlie the tops of the heel ends of the lasts adjacent the pins 28. The plates 56, 57 are provided with upturned and irregularly shaped flanges 58, 59, respectively, which extend toewardly of the shoes on the lasts and are adapted to engage each shoe at its inner side only. The plates 56, 57 are securedto individual horizontal brackets 60 having flanges 62 which are secured to the upper ends of slides 64, 65, respectively. Both slides are slidably mounted between surfaces 68 of the frame member 50 and surfaces 70 provided on a casing 72 which is secured to the front of the frame member 50. Each slide is provided with a slot 74 which receives a roll 76 mounted on the front face of the frame member 50 by a shoulder screw 78. Near its lower end the slide 64 is engaged at opposite sides by a pair of rolls 80 and 81 which restrain the slidev against swinging movement about the associated roll 76. The slide 65 is similarly engaged by rolls 82, 83. Adjacent their lower ends each slide has secured thereto a roll 86. The roll 86 on the slide 64 is received in an open slot 88 of one arm 90 of a two armed lever 91. The lever is fixed to a rock shaft 92 which is journaled at its forward end in the casing 72 and intermediate of its ends in the frame member 50 (see Fig. 4). The roll 86 on the slide 65 is received in an open slot 89 of an arm 93 of a lever 97 pivotally mounted on a shaft 95 fixed to the frame member 50 and supported at its outer end by the casing 72. The lever 91 includes another arm 101 which is connected by means of a link 103 to a second arm 105 of the lever 97. In this manner any swinging movement of the lever 91 causing heightwise movement of the slide 64 results in an equal movement of the slide 65 through the link 103 and the lever 97. The shaft 92 extends to the rear of the frame member and has fixed thereto an arm 94. The arm 94' arms 90 and 93 and hence also the slides 64 and 65 are positioned in their lowermost positions. For admission of pressure fluid to operate the unloading device, the right end of the cylinder is provided with a pipe 110 while the left end of the cylinder is provided with a pipe 112.

The fluid pressure system for operating the shoe unloading unit is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 7. The various elements of the system are shown in their initial or at rest positions to maintain the operating elements of the unloading unit in the positions illustrated in Fig. 9. Referring to Fig. 7, fluid under pressure is supplied to pipes 120, 121 from a sump S by a continuously operating pump P. The pressure of the fluid in the system is controlled by a pressure relief valve 122. The pipe 120 supplies pressurized fluid to a solenoid operated pilot valve 124 which is initially deenergized so that the pipe 120 is closed at the valve. The pipe 121 supplies pressurized fluid to a valve 126 having a spool 127. As long as the solenoid controlling the pilot valve 124 is deenergized the spool 127 is held in the position illustrated, that is, toward the left end of the valve 126 by a spring 128. In this position of the spool, pressure fluid from the pipe 121 is supplied to the pipe 112 through the valve 126. Also in this position of the spool, pressure fluid is exhausted from the pipe through the valve to an exhaust pipe 129 which conducts the fluid through a pipe E to the sump S. Thus in this position of the spool 127 pressure fluid is admitted to the left end of the cylinder 100 to maintain the piston 98 at the right end of the cylinder. With the piston in this position the slides 64, 65 and their respective plates 56, 57 are maintained in the positions illustrated in Fig. 3.

At the end of the cycle of operation of the leveling machine, the last pins 28 of the shoe supports are rocked heelwardly of the last thereon to unlock the lasts and shoes from the shoe supports by relieving the pressure of the toe end of the shoes against the toe rests 24. After the shoes are unlocked a switch (not shown) is closed to energize a solenoid coil 130 from a suitable source of electrical power. When energized, the coil 130 acts to move downwardly an armature 132 associated with a valve spool 134, the valve spool being contained within the pilot valve 124. In this manner the spool 134 is moved down closing off an exhaust port 138 leading to the sump and allowing pressurized fluid to flow from the pipe through the valve 124 and through a pipe 140 to the left end of the valve 126. The pressurized fluid moves the spool 127 of the valve 126 to the right against the action of the spring 128 closing the exhaust pipe 129, opening an exhaust pipe 131 and allowing pressurized fluid to flow from the pipe 121 through the valve to the pipe 110. The pressurized fluid is thus admitted to the right end of the cylinder 100 moving the piston 98 toward the left end of the cylinder, the fluid to the left of the piston being exhausted through the pipe 112 to the exhaust pipe 131 through the valve 126. The above-mentioned switch is adapted to remain closed just long enough for the piston 98 to reach the left end of the cylinder 100. The switch thereafter opens, deenergizing the coil allowing the spring 136 to return the spool 134 upwardly to its initial position. In this position of the spool the pipe 120 is closed and the pressurized fluid is allowed to flow from the left end of the valve 126, through the pipe and the valve 124 to the exhaust pipe 138 which at this time is opened. The spring 128 of the valve 126 returns the spool 127 to the left to its initial position thus closing off the exhaust pipe 131, opening the exhaust pipe 129 and alowing pressure to flow from the pipe 121 to the pipe 112 through the valve. The piston 98 is thus moved to the right to its initial position as illustrated in Fig. 7, the fluid to the right of the piston being exhausted through the pipe 110, the valve 126 and the exhaust pipe 129.

When the piston 98 is moved to the left upon closure of the above-mentioned switch, the lever 91 is swung clockwise as seen in Fig. 3 also causing the lever 97 to be swung counterclockwise. The arm 90 acting on the roll 86 of the slide 64 raises the slide with a linear movement axially of the last pin 28, the slide being guided in its linear movement by the rolls 78, 80 and 81. The slide moves in a linear direction until the lower end of the slot 74 engages the roll 78. At this time the right edge of the slide has moved beyond the roll 81 so that the direction of movement of the arm 90 swings the slide 64 counterclockwise about the roll 78 against the end of the slot 74. The slide 65 is moved heightwise axially of its associated last pin 28 in the same manner except that when the slide moves beyond the roll 83, the arm 93 causes the slide to be swung clockwise about its associated roll 78. In this manner the last engaging plates 56, 57 are moved heightwise or axially of their adjacent last pins 28 before being swung outwardly. Thus the lasts and shoes thereon are moved heightwise to clear the spindle holes 30 of the lasts from the pins 28 whereupon the slides 64, 65 are swung outwardly of the shoe supports thereby causing the flanges 58, 59 to swing the shoes bodily outward and clear of the shoe supports. The action of the piston 98 is rapid so that the swinging movements of the slides 64, 65 cause the shoes to be thrown widthwise and outwardly of the machine into suitable receptacles 150 (Figs. 1 and 6). After reaching the left end of the cylinder 100, the piston 98 is immediately returned to its initial position thus returning the plates 56, 57 to their initial positions adjacent the last pins 28. In this manner upon completion of the operation of the leveling machine the shoes are quickly thrown from the shoe supports into the receptacles 150 and the plates 56, 57 of the shoe unloading device are immediately returned to their initial positions so that another pair of shoes to be operated upon may be placed on the shoe supports.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown as power operated, it should be apparent that the unloading unit could bemanually operated by disconnecting the piston rod 96 and by connecting a treadle or manual device to the lever 94.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: p

1. In a shoe unloading device for a shoe support having a pin arranged to engage the heel end of a last in its spindle hole, a member engageable with a last carried by said support, a slide carrying said member, a plurality of guide means for guiding said slide for limited lengthwise movement axially of said pin, one of said guide means acting as a fulcrum for swinging movement of said slide upon termination of its lengthwise movement, and power operated means for so moving said slide.

2. In a shoe unloading device for a shoe support having a pin arranged to engage the heel end of a last in its spindle hole, a member engageable with a last carried by said support, a slide carrying said member, a plurality of rolls engaging said slide for guiding said slide for limited lengthwise movement, one of said rolls acting as a fulcrum for swinging movement of said slide upon termination of its lengthwise movement, and power operated means for so moving said slide.

3. In a shoe unloading device for a shoe support having a pin arranged to engage the heel end of a last in its spindle hole, a member engageable with a last carried by said support, a slide carrying said member, said slide having a slot therein, a fixed roll riding in said slot for guiding said slide for limited lengthwise movement axially of said pin and forming a fulcrum for swinging movement of said slide after its lengthwise movement, a pair of rolls at opposite sides of said fulcrum for preventing swinging movement of said slide during its lengthwise movement, and power operated means acting on said slide for imparting said movements to said slide.

4. In a shoe unloading device for a shoe support having a pin arranged to engage the heel end of a last in its spindle hole, a member engageable with a last, a slide carrying said member, said slide having a slot therein, a fixed roll riding in said slot for guiding said slide for limited lengthwise movement and forming a fulcrum for swinging movement of said slide after its lengthwise movement, additional guide means acting on said slide for guiding said slide during its lengthwise movement, said guide means being ineffective to prevent swinging movement of said slide after its lengthwise movement, and power operated means acting on said slide for imparting said movements to said slide.

5. In a machine for operating on shoes, a shoe support, a last pin on the shoe support arranged to enter the thimble of a lasted shoe supported in inverted position, means engageable with the inverted top surface of the heel portion of the last for moving the lasted shoe vertically until it is free of the last pin and then moving it laterally from the shoe support.

6. In an unloading device for shoe supports having means restraining a last and shoe against lengthwise and widthwise bodily movements, a member engageable with a last carried by said support, a slide carrying said member, a plurality of guide means for guiding said slide for limited movement heightwise of said last, one of said guide means acting as a fulcrum for swinging movement of said slide upon termination of its heightwise movement, and means for so moving said slide.

Jorgensen Sept. 9, 1930 Jorgensen Feb. 2, 1932 

